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HYBRID BATTERY LIFE

I am interested in buying a gas-hybrid automobile. A neighbor of mine told me the other day that the battery in a hybrid vehicle needs to be replaced within five years, and that it accounts for three-quarters of the price of the car!
Is this accurate? If so, it certainly sounds like a deal-breaker to me...

HYBRID BATTERY LIFE

LOL!!!! Your neighbor is talking out of his exhaust pipe.

Do a search and you'll find lots of info about hybrid batteries.

Think a little about your neighbor's statement and it makes absolutely no sense at all.... 5 years? Then why are they warrantied for 8 - 10 years? 75% of the cost of the car? Then how is it that hybrids don't cost almost twice as much as a non-hybrid version?

The batteries are built and designed to last the lifetime of the car.... and if you ever did wear one out and it was out of warranty, there will be much cheaper replacements available (and they'll probably be much better than the originals). Battery technology will advance a lot in a decade.

Considering that there are

Considering that there are plenty of documented Priuses floating around with 200k+ on the original battery pack (at least one with 349k), I would question your baseless assumption that "at best" the batteries will last 7-8 years, and "NOT" the lifetime of the car.

The inadvertent irony of your final sentence is that if you had done your research, you would have known this already.

Just check out this page -

I feel badly when I see

I feel badly when I see people arguing over details that I see as secondary. To me it is simple. The big picture is that the auto industry, which is at the present mostly consumer driven, needs us (the consumer) to pressure them to make cars that burn less fossil fuels or no fossil fules at all. I know that there are other factors involved in their decisions and can I influence that beyond my purchasing power??? ... perhaps, but that is another issue all together. If we all debate the viability about what we all know to be a hard core reality; that the earth isnt going to be able to sustain our way of life indefinatley, then I feel that there isnt a serious or shall I say URGENT enough emphasis put on the most important issue here. The issue here isnt one of egocentricity - ie how much $$$ will I save or how long will the car battery last?? or what ever ... the issue is that We need to do anything and everything in our power as individuals and collectively to change the way in which we deal with our planet. If that means that we buy hybrids now and then later HHO cars when that technology becomes more readily available, or what ever we chose that is a step in the direction of green, THEN I suggest that we all do it ... we just do it. To argue about the effectiveness of batteries and the cost ratio of the hybrid to a regular car to me is absurd. It is people like this that cause the problem that we are facing to perpetuate. INACTION only further adds to the problem. Justifying that inaction blinds oneself of their ethical obligation to take appropriate action as a steward of this planet. Most people at this point are aware enough of the reality of the condition of the earth to know that we are in serious trouble and to do nothiing should simply not be an option. Out of sight, out of mind is too dangerous. Maybe the hybrid technology isnt perfect. Maybe it will never be, but it is sure a lot better than doing nothing and it is sure worth the extra $3000 if that means that I am doing at least something within my small alotted scope of power to help CHANGE the way we live in the world.

I am totally on board with

I am totally on board with you. I don't understand these pointless arguments some people have over how much will it cost to replace the batteries. They need to look at the big picture and start doing something about the way we live, and consume the earth. Arguing and bickering will only lead to a standstill that will never allow us to move in the right direction. Your post is very good and to the point.

Dean,
I really like your

Dean,
I really like your approach, however, remember, mankind is generally motivated by ignorance, ego, and greed. This is especially true when we're living in such cushy times. It will be hard to get people to think about tomorrow when they're only interested in continuing to enjoy today. They will cry and complain when things get worse but they won't want to do anything real about it if it will cause them to lose some of their luxuries today.
You might want to read "Who Moved My Cheese" by Spencer Johnson

Can't agree more. (Just

Can't agree more. (Just don't drag the whole darn Republican/Democrat issue into this discussion because it causes, should I say, some defensive reactions from certain sectors.) "Hybrid" as it's name implies, is a stepping stone to the next generation of alternaive fuel vehicle. I work in the oil industry and no matter what anyone else ells you or projects, everyone in the upper echelons of our business knows we only have about (optimistically) 50 to 75 years of oil left at current consumption levels. That's at our CURRENT consumption level, folks, not a consumption level that includies the projected leap taken by the "rise of the rest" i.e., India, China, Malaysia, etc. That oil is like a modest cash settlement left to us by our parents: we can spend it on some wild times in Vegas, or invest it in something that will provide us with a comfortable and safe retirement. In other words, I have no problem using that oil energy to mine nickel for batteries, produce silicon for solar panels, or turbines for wind generators; I think it's a horrific waste to see it frittered on vain crap like Hummers and Yukons. I'm just afraid that we're going to be like the 13th (?) century Easter Island natives that cut down the last of their treesto use as rollers for their god-statues. Those trees were the only material they had to build boats with, and the loss left them with no way to fish and consequently no way to feed themselves. Our remaining oil reserves are the trees on our "island". We need to put just a tad bit more thought into how we use up the last of it.

Unfortunately, this is a

Unfortunately, this is a political issue to too many. I live in a red state and of all my buddies I hang out with, I'm the only Democrat. They are all Republicans. They are all college degreed and professionally certified types, educated and experienced, one could argue.

I just bought my second hybrid. One of the guys refers to it as a gaybrid. Another lavishes criticism on it, largely based on the anti-hybrid propaganda that's readily available on the internet. Yet another simply makes fun of the color. You see they hate tree-huggers and they associate (perhaps unconsciously) hybrids with tree-huggers. Of course they are wrong; it's more complicated than that.

It shouldn't be a political issue; it should just be about finding a better way. But unfortunately, in my experience, it is political. Like we need more obstacles to progress....